March 30, 2020
Whether you are excited by the idea of take-home essay exams or frightened by it, you may have some questions about the best way to prepare. I have compiled a list of tips and suggestions that apply generally to take-home exams. These tips should not take the place
March 18, 2020
In normal times, who doesn’t love the idea of telecommuting? The prospect of WFHing in pants with an elastic waistband alongside what used to be an unlimited supply of snacks while the laundry hums productively in the background—on someone else’s dime—is everyone’s dream.
Or
December 14, 2018 In the podcast, I talk about looking at law school exams as a rite of passage and also compare them to the Ming dynasty’s civil service exam.
December 10, 2018 In a recent article for The American Lawyer, Joanna Litt recounted the suicide of her husband. She attributed his death to the stresses of his law practice and of being a partner in big law. I saw this article posted at first by a single former law school
November 14, 2018 Your first final exams are coming up, 1Ls! It's time to mind your minutes, study the past, start formulating answers, and pay attention to your professors – and get that first good grade.
November 13, 2018 You’re probably a mere three weeks from your law school exams. So everything you’re reading and doing should be helping you ace your law school examinations. Let me help. Below are three things you can do to ensure you ace your law school exams:
November 12, 2018 To avoid wreaking havoc on your classmates in the law library and to assist in providing a platform for venting in the comment section below, I have tallied a few of the more egregious instances of misconduct.
October 23, 2018 If you are like I was when I was a 1L, the scariest thoughts involve the first set of exams. The unknown questions, the time crunch, especially imagining the wide range of essay questions your professors could ask you and how exactly to tackle them, is enough to give you nightmares.
October 16, 2018 Taking your first round of law school exams? Get the inside scoop on what to expect and how to prepare in this webinar, "Tips for Preparing for Your First Law School Exam."
March 19, 2018 The phrases “legal research” or “legislative research” often conjure up images of signing into an online subscription resource to find everything one might need; however, using subscription resources is not a viable option for all lawyers in all situations. Luckily, several websites provide free and reliable legal and legislative information for
March 01, 2018 Here are five ways to use this necessary companion to Google-like searching and be more confident that you’ve scoured the research landscape.
September 05, 2017 You probably know that outlining is an important part of the writing process. An outline helps you organize your writing and identify gaps in your analysis. The more complex the material you are writing about, the more important your organization is—and legal analysis is often complex. Most writers outline at
July 07, 2017 Getting into law school is thrilling. You’ve been preparing for this moment a long time. After the giddiness wears off, you may start to feel a bit apprehensive. That’s because law school is an extremely competitive environment. It’s truly a jungle where the law of the land includes survival of
March 01, 2016 In most law school seminars, the instruction of legal writing usually gets broken down into technical details. However, legal writing—just like every other form of writing—is more art than science. You must learn how to tell a story, appeal to an audience, and—after you’ve gotten the mechanics of analysis down—trust your instincts.
Over almost a decade of
November 01, 2014 Wise choices of law school courses can optimize grades and increase preparation for the bar exam and future legal practice.
March 01, 2014 The semester’s halfway point is fast approaching. Students need to take stock now and begin serious exam preparation. First, analyze three aspects of your academics to gather information for planning your studies. Then, determine the study priorities for each course and choose appropriate study strategies to accomplish those priorities.
Analyze your
January 01, 2014
Many law students never outlined courses when they were undergraduates because tests were frequent and noncumulative so cramming from class notes worked well. Infrequent law school-style exams make cramming from class notes and briefs unwise.
First, one exam covering 15 weeks of material translates to
September 01, 2013 Realize that law school requires a different commitment to your studies. For many law students, prior college courses were not essential to their futures. They could cram at the end of the semester, “brain dump” for a good grade, and then forget what they learned because they never planned to
September 01, 2013 Taking courses that will give you an edge in your (so-far) chosen specialty is just one smart way to choose electives.
January 01, 2012 There are techniques to improve your exam results in May. If you implement them diligently, your grades can increase with any exam format.
November 01, 2011 “Study groups” are a long-standing tradition in law school. The term, however, is a misnomer; law students actually complete daily class preparation alone. They later use study group time to review and consolidate course material.
October 01, 2011 What is the most important lawyerly skill you might acquire in law school? I say it's the art of reading cases knowledgeably––especially cases involving textual interpretation.
It’s unfortunate that textual interpretation is largely neglected in legal education. Professor Mary Ann Glendon of has written: “Most of our fellow citizens . .
September 01, 2010 Law class and note-taking requires different strategies than undergraduate classes because of format, content, and pace differences.